Chapter 2- The Ties That Bind
All standard disclaimers apply.
The train platform at Meadowbrook Station was a pickpocket’s paradise; full of confused and distracted tourists, ripe for the picking. Blue spotted several likely victims, some of whom were marveling at the clouds of steam their breath made in the cold. Some young ponies in ragged clothing eyed them hungrily. Luckily, Blue had perfected her ‘Don’t Buck with Me’ stare, so nopony came near her.
Eclipse City was often called Manehattan’s mean big brother. It had the same modern architecture – mostly skyscrapers in one area, ghettos in another – and a harbor district full of warehouses next to Lake Tranquility. The place had only gotten worse over the years. Blue saw several homeless ponies and griffons gathered around a fire in a barrel, trying in vain to banish the bitter autumn chill from their bodies. She handed each of them a few silver crescents. They thanked her profusely, wishing her Luna’s blessing.
Inside the station, Blue immediately spotted a familiar face, holding a sign bearing her name with a white magic aura. “Silver Platter!” she greeted with a smile.
“Good evening, Lady Moon.” The butler greeted with a small hug. She had aged well over the years. Her only wrinkles were a few crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes, and it was difficult to discern any gray in her stark white, expertly braided mane. She wore a black driver’s hat, with a matching jacket over a red turtleneck sweater. “Your sister seemed to expect you would arrive soon. She requested that I take you to the Moonscraper. She wished to meet you here personally, but had an important meeting to attend.”
Blue rolled her eyes. Dust had probably spoken with Luna, and made the logical guess that, while Luna and her mother weren’t that important to her, Blue still cared about her sister. It wasn’t even a question whether or not Blue would come home for her.
Outside was even colder than inside. It was nighttime, and a light drizzle came down. Silver Platter opened the door of an ornate gold and black carriage parked on the curb. Blue climbed in as the butler hitched herself to the front. Blue opened the small window in front so she could talk with Silver.
“So…” Blue began awkwardly, suddenly nervous. “How have things been since I…you know… left?”
As she sped into a rapid trot down the street, pulling the large chariot as if it weighed nothing, Silver Platter sighed. “Not well, sadly. Your sister can bring you up to speed far better than I can.”
“Oh…” Blue scrambled for a topic that would break the awkwardness. “So…How is Dust doing?”
“She is worried for you. After all, she has not heard from you in more than a year.”
“Oh…” Blue winced. It was clear that, while Silver was happy to see her again, she was still upset. Now she knew how Luna felt.
“I would enjoy hearing what you have been doing in your absence,” Silver suggested not-so-subtly.
Blue cheered inwardly at the change in subject. “Well…I was kind of all over the map. I was in the Ponyville for a while. I visited the Crystal Empire.” Technically, she’d gone to the Everfree Forest and the Frozen North. She’d never even set hoof in Ponyville or the Empire for longer than it took her to get off of the train, but Silver Platter didn’t need to know that.
“I assume that is where you received those scorch marks on your shawl?” Silver pointed out with a small smirk.
Blue gave her biggest ‘I swear I’m not lying’ smile. “Um…yes?”
“Are you going to tell me the truth, or do I have to resort to Drastic Measures?”
Blue shuddered. She had experienced Silver Platter’s “Drastic Measures” once, and she never wanted to again. “I… may have gone to Tartarus.”
Silver didn’t stop, and her dignified demeanor didn’t shift. “I see.” She was silent as a grave for a few excruciating moments. “And why did you do that?”
Blue looked down at her hooves. “I…”
“You went in looking for a fight?”
Blue sighed, defeated. “Yeah.”
“And I assume the fact that you’re here means that you won?”
Blue couldn’t help a proud smirk. “Yeah.”
“Good girl!” Silver praised, finally freeing the grin she’d been concealing.
Blue let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. But Silver Platter’s next words sent a glacial chill up her spine. “But, if you ever vanish like that again, I will personally track you down, and Drastic Measures will be taken.”
The Moonscraper was the tallest building in Eclipse City. The pointed spire atop it – as well as the giant, glowing crescent moon on the side of the building – could be seen from miles away.
Silver Platter dropped Blue off in front of the glass revolving doors. “I am sorry I cannot go with you.” The albino unicorn apologized, a frown on her face. “I must take the chariot back to the depot, lest it be stolen.”
“No problem, Silv.” Blue dismissed with a wave of a hoof. “I think I can handle things from here. Will I see you later?”
Silver nodded. “Yes. Though I still have my lodgings in Moon Manor, Mistress Dust alerted me to the location of your private apartment. I have been keeping it clean in your absence. I will check up on you there tomorrow.”
Blue waved as the butler departed down Tower Boulevard. Taking a deep breath, she turned to look up at the Moonscraper. The structure lined up perfectly with the rising moon, seeming to actually touch it. The glowing neon sign in the shape of a crescent moon created the illusion of a double moonrise – a tribute to the city’s “Glorious” patron, Princess Luna.
Blue pushed through the revolving door, into the lobby. The Moonscraper’s walls were all the same shade of turquoise, lined with off-white. A decent sized waiting area was filled with black plastic chairs and glass tables. Directly ahead of her was the reception desk. Dust’s secretary, a muscular Earth Pony stallion with a dark green coat and shaggy brown mane, looked extremely bored. His cutie mark was an artillery cannon.
“Hey, Maverick!” Blue greeted. “How’s Shellshock doing?”
Maverick looked up, grinning. “Hey, Blue! She’s doing fine. We just got engaged.”
Blue chuckled. “So she proposed?”
Maverick smiled sheepishly, touching the ring on his chain necklace. “Yeah. I guess she thought I was taking too long.” He nodded towards the elevator. “Dus– Uh…Ms. Moon is expecting you. Her meeting should be over soon. Just take the elevator up. You remember what floor it’s on, right?”
Blue nodded. “Top floor. Same place it always is.”
In the ornate, gold-lined elevator, Blue tuned out the generic music to think. ‘Hopefully Dust isn’t mad at me after what happened at the family reunion last year. What if she is?’ This thought made her brows knit together, and her ears fall. ‘What if she doesn’t just want to see me? What if she wants to have me put in jail for what I did?! Or worse, back in That Place Which Shall Not Be Named!’
“I can’t go back!” Blue muttered. “I won’t!”
In Blue’s mind, a hoof stomped firmly on that train of thought. ‘No. You know better, Blue. Dust loves you. She wouldn’t do something like that.’
‘But what if she–’
‘No, Blue! First off, stop arguing with me. I’m you. Second, why would she? You’ve been out of there for more than ten years! She’s the one that got you out in the first place! Now go see your sister! The elevator has been open for a full minute.’
Blue sighed. There was no point in arguing with Bluetwo. She would never win. With a deep breath, she stepped through the elevator door.
The waiting room outside of Dust’s office was cozier than the one in the lobby. It had four pale brown couches arranged in a square, instead of plastic chairs, and a small bookshelf bearing a sticker that read ‘Put the books back, or else!’ A floor-to-ceiling window dominated one wall.
Blue took a seat, letting her gaze drift out the window. Down below, nightfall had put to sleep the ponies of the day, and brought out the Night Ponies, her fellow descendants of the Night Princess, and the nocturnal brethren of the Pegasi. Long ago, when Nocturna – the country of which Eclipse City was the capitol – had first attempted to secede from Equestria after the banishment of Princess Luna, the Night Ponies had forsaken Celestia’s sun in favor of the night life. Nowadays most of them did it out of tradition. A Night Pony wearing a mail carrier’s uniform flew by the window and waved at Blue. Blue waved back, noticing that he was one of the rare Night Ponies who, by some odd genetic defect, had the leathery wings of a bat. Blue shivered a bit. She had never quite gotten over her fear of bats. She knew Bat Ponies, or “Thestrals”, were mostly harmless. That didn’t change the fact that they were creepy. She briefly smiled into the window, looking at the reflection of the two small fangs that were the only thing that marked her as related to the Thestrals.
It only took a few more minutes for the mahogany office door to slam open, and a slender, gray and green stallion to come flying through to land on his rump. “Get your plot out of my office!” Dust snarled from inside.
“You’ll regret this!” the stallion shouted back, shoving roughly past Blue as he left.
Blue glared at him as he left. “What’s up with him?” she muttered. She turned back to her sister. “I see you haven’t mellowed out since I’ve been gone,” she remarked.
Dust had taken over the company from their mother at age eighteen, since their father had specifically left the company to his children, not his wife. After what their mother had done to them following their father’s death, it felt like some measure of karmic justice when Dust had security remove her from the building. Since then, Dust had taken her position as head of Nocturna’s biggest job-producing company very seriously, and those who tried to waste her time were not around long.
“Bluey!” Dust exclaimed with a huge smile. She was slightly taller than Blue, and a little skinnier. Then again, Blue had always been a bit stockier than an average mare. Dust had her long silver mane in a simple ponytail. Her tail was elegantly groomed in a long, sweeping style, and was tied at the end with a blue ribbon. She wore a red blazer over an orchid blouse.
The sisters lunged at each other, each attempting to crack the other’s ribs.
Dust pulled out of the hug and belted Blue across the face. “Don’t you EVER run off like that again!” she scolded.
Blue rubbed her cheek where Dust had punched her. “Geez, Dusty. I’m twenty-seven. You can’t just keep me behind bars.”
Dust flinched at her wording. “You could have at least sent me a letter. After that fiasco last year, you just vanished without a word! I didn’t know if you were even alive! Starflower told me you even quit your job! Why? Why did you leave?”
Blue looked away. “You know why.”
Dust’s gaze softened. “Bluey, that wasn’t your fault. Mom was way out of line with what she did. I think you were fully justified in teaching her a lesson.”
“I broke her jaw,” Blue reminded. “I almost killed her. I just can’t risk snapping again.” That was far from the only reason she had left, but Dust really didn’t need to know more at the moment. “I only really came back here because Luna said you wanted to see me.” She needed to change the subject. Badly. “Do you want to go get something to eat? I’m starving.” That was a bit of an exaggeration. She had kept herself decently fed during her time away, but she hadn’t had much to eat on the train.
Dust narrowed her eyes. Blue knew she was only delaying this conversation, but she also knew her sister would go easy on her, at least for now. “Alright,” Dust decided. “But first you should probably take a shower. I could hardly believe it when Luna told me where you were, but I can easily tell that she was telling the truth by the fact that you still smell like brimstone.”
Luckily for Blue, Dust spent so much time in her office that she’d had a full apartment, complete with a bedroom and bathroom, installed next to it. Half an hour later, she had showered off the soot, dirt, and assorted blood that her fur had accumulated during her travels. It took a further fifteen minutes for Dust to untangle Blue’s wild mane and wrestle it into a short braid. Dust had always been a little overly obsessed with her appearance.
Blue drew the line when she tried to take her tail ring. “No way! That’s practical.”
Dust looked absolutely mortified. “But…it’s just so tacky!”
“That’s just a word that stupid ponies invented to justify overcomplicating things.”
Dust rolled her eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fine! But will you at least let me brush your tail?”
Blue snorted, mostly to hide her grin at her sister’s usual endearingly overbearing manner. “Whatever.”
Once Dust had gotten her criticisms of Blue’s tail out of the way – “Blue! Have you been trimming your tail with your combat knife AGAIN!?” – they finally set out. Outside, it was too cold to go without clothes, so Dust let Blue borrow a black turtleneck.
“So, where do you want to go?” Dust queried.
Blue tapped a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. She perked up. “How about The Stubby Sheleighleigh?” she suggested with a smile.
Dust shook her head adamantly. “We’re going out to eat, not to drink. How about Aether?”
Blue’s ears fell and her eyes widened as she pondered her sister’s sanity. “That place is awful! You need a microscope to see your entrée!”
“Touché,” Dust agreed grudgingly.
Both sisters were quiet for a moment, trying to figure out a decent place to eat.
Blue grinned at Dust. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Dust smirked. “I do believe I am.”
“Welcome to MacGriffon’s,” a tired-looking, middle-aged female griffon greeted. “May I take your order?”
“Two barbecue hayburgers, a large fries, and a twenty-piece tofu nuggets,” Blue ordered. “Oh! And a large vanilla milkshake. What are you having, Dusty?”
“I’ll have a salad, and the fruit punch.” Moon Dust replied.
“You’re having a salad…at a burger place.” Blue shook her head in disbelief. “Sis, you are one weird pony.”
“At least I’M not a garbage disposal,” Dust shot back.
They carried their food to a nearby table and sat down. Dust politely began on her salad, while Blue dug into her food with gusto. Blue liked to try and get a bit of burger, fry, and nugget in every mouthful.
“So…” Dust began, ignoring her sibling’s atrocious manners. “Why don’t you tell me about your…travels this year?”
Blue swallowed her amalgam of food. “Fair enough. What do you want to hear about?”
Dust put a hoof to her chin, pondering her question. “Why Tartarus?” she decided.
Blue shrugged. “I wanted to get as far away from this city as possible. It wasn’t actually my first choice. The first place I went was the Everfree Forest. That didn’t end the way I expected.”
“What happened?” Dust asked curiously.
“Well, I expected to find a cockatrice or a chimera or something. Some monster I could turn Bluetwo loose on without feeling guilty. Instead, I got a crazed Alicorn and her five cronies chasing me through the woods claiming I needed a “Friendship Lesson”. I really don’t want to know what they meant by that.”
Dust chuckled. “Yes. I heard rumors that some Unicorn in Equestria had ascended to Princess status. Apparently they were true.”
“Seems so,” Blue agreed. “After I gave them the slip, I took the train up to the Frozen North.”
“That must have been interesting.”
Blue rolled her eyes. “Anything but! There was literally nothing up there but ice and snow. I left that place pretty quick.”
“And logic lead you to Tartarus,” Dust surmised.
“Pretty much. It was the only other place I could think of that I could find something to help me work my demons out. No pun intended.”
Dust’s face could have cooked her salad. “THAT’S what you were doing? ‘Working out’ the demons?!”
The red on Blue’s face looked more like purple beneath her blue fur. “What?! NO!” She waved her hooves in a definite negative. “Get your mind out of the gutter!”
Dust sighed in relief. “Sorry. It’s just that…well, you’ve never had a serious coltfriend. I thought for a moment that demons and monsters might be your…ahem…kink.”
Blue facehoofed. “Dust, please don’t bring this up again.”
“Alright then.” Dust agreed, folding her hooves on the table. Her face became serious. “Let’s change the subject. What happened with Mom? Before she threw you through the window.”
Blue hesitated. ‘So Mom didn’t say anything about what happened.’ “Dusty…”
Dust gave her a hurt look, her ears falling. “Was it really bad enough that you don’t trust me to be on your side?”
Blue shook her head, still not meeting Dust’s eyes. “It’s not that. It’s just…” She moved her hooves around wordlessly. She didn’t know how to tell Dust that she just wasn’t ready to tell the rest of that story yet. It hurt too much.
She was saved from explaining by a pair of Unicorns walking up to the table. One was an older stallion, and the other a younger mare. They both had the same colors: A golden-yellow coat with a bright-turquoise mane and tail. Their outfits were also matching: Navy-blue jackets and caps bearing the inscription ECPD.
“Chief Shield! Detective Starflower!” Blue stood up and snapped to salute, then sagged when she remembered that she wasn’t actually a cop anymore.
“At ease, Blue Moon,” Golden Shield greeted with a smile, only partially obscured by his turquoise mustache. His Cutie Mark was a golden police badge. “Glad to see you still breathin’. After you just left your badge and uniform on my desk and ran off, I got worried about you. Figured you’d be back, though. Never doubted it, in fact. Starry wasn’t so sure. Oh, ye of little faith.” He chuckled, nudging his daughter.
Both Starflower and Blue Moon hid their discomfort quite well. Blue knew exactly why the mare with the sky-blue lotus Cutie Mark and the regulation-cut mane and tail thought that she would never come back. Starflower was one-third of the reason that Blue had left in the first place.
“I’m actually glad I ran into you, Moon Dust,” Golden continued. “I wanted to discuss the new equipment for the ECPD.”
Dust cast a look at Blue. “Well…I’m kind of spending time with my sister right now. Can’t it wait?”
“Actually, I’d like to catch up with Blue for a few minutes if it’s okay with you.” Starflower spoke up for the first time.
‘I’ll bet she would’ Bluetwo growled in Blue’s head. ‘Let me handle her, Blue. She deserves a good kick in the plot after what she did.’
“Is that okay with you, Blue?” Starflower asked.
‘Damn straight it is. Just let me get her alone in a dark alley.’
‘Be quiet, Bluetwo!’ “I guess. It shouldn’t be for that long.” Blue rose from her seat. “Go ahead and take care of business, Dusty.”
Starflower led Blue outside, and they walked to the end of the block to get out of sight of the restaurant. Once they were far enough away, they ducked into an alley.
Once their privacy was assured, Starflower immediately wrapped Blue in a hug, and planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’m sooo happy to see you again!”
Bluetwo snapped into dominance at that. She shoved her away, hard.
Starflower gave her a hurt look. “Why did you do that?”
Bluetwo glared at her with a hatred she had not shown previously. “You really thought I would just forgive you after what you did?”
Starflower’s ears pinned in confusion. “Uh…what did I do?”
“Seriously?!” Bluetwo snarled. “You cheated on me!”
“I what?!” Starflower put her hooves to her cheeks in shock. “No I didn’t!”
“You’re seriously going to deny it? Well, let me refresh your memory.”
Blue paced nervously back and forth. She was dressed in a freshly laundered ECPD uniform. It was the night of the annual Moon Family Reunion. Normally Blue wouldn’t be caught dead at one of these; they were full of backstabbing and politics among her various family members. Blue had no doubt that Lady Eclipse would be turning over in her grave if she saw how her descendants were acting. Hay, Luna was, and she was still alive!
But tonight was important. Blue and Starflower had a big announcement to make.
Starflower staggered into the Moon Manor garden, looking quite unsteady. “Are you drunk?” Blue asked. She knew that Starflower was nervous, but she only drank when things were really getting to her.
“Heeyyy Bluey!” Starflower slurred. She sidled up to hug Blue and give her a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “Howzit goin? Goin’ good?”
“Oh Luna…” Blue cursed. This wasn’t good.
“Did you call?” A familiar voice asked.
Blue turned. “Oh, thank you, Luna!” The Night Princess didn’t often come to the reunions either. In fact, in the five years since her return from exile, she had come to exactly one, on her first year back. But Blue had enticed her to come to this one by telling her there would be a big surprise this year. She couldn’t help but notice that the Princess smelled of alcohol as well. As an Alicorn, Luna would have had to go through almost a whole cellar of wine to get drunk. She must have been having a horrible time at this snake pit of a reunion. Blue needed to hurry and make the announcement so the poor Princess could leave. “This is my uh… friend, Starflower. She showed up drunk, but we have a big announcement to make later tonight. Do you know a spell or something to make her sober up?”
Luna tilted her head. “Starflower? I do not recall seeing you before. Are we related?”
Starflower giggled. “Nope! I *hic* uh… don’t think so.”
Luna laughed. “I’m afraid I don’t know any spells to cure this, but I might know another way. Would you mind if I borrowed her for a little while?”
“Sure. Just please bring her back sober… and maybe sober up yourself too.”
Starflower facehoofed. “I forgot about that. You must have been really embarrassed that I showed up drunk. I barely remember what happened. All I know is I woke up in a guest… bedroom… upstairs…” She trailed off as she realized the implications of where she woke up after being led off, drunk, by a mare who had just asked if they were related. “Oh, buck. What did I do?”
Bluetwo’s eyes narrowed. “You seriously don’t remember?”
Starflower shook her head. “No, I don’t. I was alone when I woke up. It was morning, and there was a glass of water on the nightstand. I saw the broken window and the smashed up furniture on my way out, but nopony would tell me what happened. I went home, cleaned up, and went to the station, only to find you turning your badge and uniform in and quitting. I don’t know if you remember, but you didn’t say a word to me on the way out.”
Bluetwo clenched her teeth at the memory. “That was her,” she snapped, pointing a hoof at her own head. “Trust me, if I had been the one in charge, I would have been in jail for assaulting an officer. If it had been me, I would have done more than yell at you.”
Starflower flinched at the threat. Bluetwo hadn’t threatened her since they first met. “Just… finish the story, please.”
Bluetwo’s eyes narrowed. “Fine,” she spat.
Blue trotted impatiently through the upstairs guest hallway, where she had seen Luna drag a hammered Starflower almost an hour previously. ‘I hope Luna managed to get her sobered up. It’s almost time for our big announcement.’
Blue was so deep in thought that she didn’t even notice that another mare was headed down the hallway in the opposite direction. She bumped headfirst into the other pony. “Oops! Sorry about…” She trailed off. “Hi, Mom,” she greeted cordially.
Honey Moon smiled patiently. Her honey-colored coat contrasted beautifully with her long, pitch black mane and gorgeously curled tail. She wore no makeup, and had absolutely no need for it. Her cutie mark was a queen chess piece. But Blue could tell the difference between a genuine smile and a predator baring its teeth at its prey. “Oh that’s fine, Baby Blue,” she dismissed. Blue gritted her teeth at the nickname. “Where were you off to in such a hurry?”
Blue considered brushing her mother off. She knew how akin to a minefield any conversation with her could become. But if she did that her mother might ruin everything just out of spite, and Blue couldn’t let that happen this year, so she plastered on her best fake smile and took that big step over the barbed wire. “I need to find Starflower. Have you seen her anywhere?”
Mom tapped a hoof on her chin, as if thinking. “Hmm… I may have. Maybe I’ll tell you where, if you answer a question for me first.” The smile had gained a playful, catlike aspect to it.
Blue knew she probably wouldn’t like this, but she nodded anyway. There was no walking away now.
The smile widened. “Excellent! Now, you have to tell the absolute truth. I’ll know if you don’t. Okay?”
Blue nodded impatiently, motioning for her to hurry.
The smile now looked like it would split her face. “Alright. Here it is; are you and Starflower a couple?”
Blue’s face went from impatient to horrified in a nanosecond. Her jaw hung open, and one eyelid twitched. There were many ways that this could have gone to Tartarus, but this was the absolute worst; her mother had figured them out before they could make the announcement themselves. Now all she had to do was reveal it to the rest of the family. The Moon family were sharks, who would not hesitate when they smelled blood in the water. They would see it as an illicit affair, and would instantly jump on the opportunity to use it against her. They would put pressure on Golden Shield to fire them both as punishment for the disgrace brought on by the scandal. Golden would refuse, and they would have him fired too. He and Starflower would probably wind up homeless, but Blue’s fate would be just as bad. She would be forced to rely on family money. She would be in their debt. Her job was the only thing keeping her from becoming a puppet to the money like the rest of them. Moon Dust would be unbelievably hurt that Blue never told her, and while Luna may have been a legendary figure, she had no real political power to help Blue because she still supported Equestria. It would be a simple choice of being trapped by her family, or fleeing Nocturna entirely.
Blue’s mother couldn’t possibly have smiled wider. “I knew it!”
“H-how? How did you know?”
Her mother tossed her mane. “Mother’s intuition. Don’t worry. I don’t plan on telling anyone.” This derailed Blue once again. ‘What game is she playing?’
Her mother leaned on the windowsill, looking at the moon outside. “So, how did you two meet?”
Blue kept her guard up, but didn’t see any harm in telling her. “It was when you put me in the asylum.”
Mom raised an eyebrow. “Really? She was a patient?”
Blue shook her head. “She was a volunteer nurse there, before we joined the ECPD.”
“You must have been discreet about it, to avoid being caught red-hooved.” Mom concluded. She pursed her lips in consideration. “Hmm… I seem to remember seeing your marefriend go into that bedroom over there.”
Blue let out a deep breath. Her mother would doubtlessly use that as leverage at some point in the future, but that hadn’t been as bad as she thought. She went over and pushed open the door to the guest bedroom.
Her eyes went as the full moon outside.
Luna took her tongue out of Starflower’s mouth to turn and see who had come in. “Ah! Hello, Blue Moon!” the Princess slurred. “We were just getting ready for round two. Would you care to join us?”
“–and then I attacked Luna, Mom pulled me off of her, and Mom and I got in a brawl. She threw me through the window, and I went upstairs and broke all the furniture with her face. The cops got called, the reunion was ruined, and I probably would have been fired if I hadn’t resigned.” Blue finished. The rage in Bluetwo’s eyes had faded around the time she had gotten to opening the door, to be replaced by nothing but pain in Blue’s.
“Oh…” Starflower wheezed. She looked like she had been slugged in the chest. Her hooves went up to cover her eyes. “Oh, fugnugget, I messed up.”
Blue nodded. She didn’t laugh at Starflower’s creative alternate swearing. Bluetwo would have said something witty about her deserving to hurt, but she had burned herself out, and was currently sulking in a corner of Blue’s mind.
Blue yelped as Starflower threw herself to the ground at her hooves. “I’m so sorry, Blue!” she sobbed. “I-I don’t even remember any of that! I was just so freaked out about coming out to your family, that I decided to have a little…liquid courage. One drink turned into three, three into four, and four into… well, I lost track. But that doesn’t change what I did! I… I understand if you never want to see me again. I love you, Blue.”
Starflower stood up and started walking away.
“Wait,” Blue murmured.
Starflower turned, confused.
Blue looked down at her hooves. She wasn’t sure what to say. Hearing Starflower grovel had awoken some emotions in her that were really confusing. At the time, the immense anger she had felt was all-consuming. Now that she had spent a year away, working things out, she just felt… empty. It was like she had hacked up a lungful of poison telling that story. She had always thought that Starflower would offer some sort of excuse for what she’d done, when in reality she didn’t even remember doing it. All those times that Luna had visited her dreams while she was away, only to be forced out…
Blue needed to think, but one decision was somewhat clear. She wasn’t quite ready to forget what had happened, but she didn’t want to lose the pony who had supported her through one of the worst times in her life.
“Maybe…” Blue began uncertainly. “Maybe we could get the old group together for a game night in a few days?”
Starflower’s face exploded into a smile, and started to rush up to hug Blue. But she held back at the last second, muting her enthusiasm. “Uh, yeah. I can gather the rest of the group up. Is Friday good?”
For the first time in a long time, Blue felt a genuine smile cross her face. “That sounds perfect.”
Blue told her sister that she needed some alone time to think. Moon Dust saw the torn look in Blue’s eyes, and told her it was fine. She gave Blue a key to get back into her apartment. “Silver Platter has been keeping it clean for you,” she reminded. “Come see me again tomorrow. I have some things I’d like to discuss with you.”
Blue nodded absently as she departed. She wasn’t headed back to her apartment. Not yet, anyway. There was a place she wanted to go first.
Tranquility Park was an area of great historical significance for Nocturna. It was the place where the founders originally settled beside Lake Tranquility after leaving Equestria to cross the Badlands, and started building what would eventually become Eclipse City.
There was a circular courtyard right next to the lake that was Blue’s favorite spot in the entire park. It had a few stone benches around one half of the circle. But the statues along the other half were Blue’s favorite feature. They depicted the Nightmare Knights, the ponies who had defied Celestia after she caused Luna to devolve into Nightmare Moon, and the founders of Nocturna.
From left to right, they were: Real McCoy – the Grinning Bandit; Oblivion – the legendary knight who faced off against the Sun Princess herself, and lived to tell the tale; Lady Eclipse – Blue’s ancestor, who held the fledgling nation together as its first governor; Nocturne II – Luna’s house guard who sparked the rebellion in the first place; and finally Deep Dream – the powerful mage who cast the spell that created the Night Pony variations of the normal Pony tribes. It was Deep Dream’s spell that resulted in ponies like Blue having the oddly colored eyes, tiny fangs, and, in much rarer cases, bat wings that they were born with. Not all ponies related to the Nightmare Knights had these traits, in fact they were fairly uncommon nowadays thanks to interbreeding among the Night and normal, or “Day” Ponies that had refused to have the spell cast on them.
Blue gazed up at the statues of Oblivion and Eclipse. Oblivion was an oddity among the Knights. No one could seem to remember any facts about them, not even things like what tribe or what gender they were. Oblivion’s legend had grown so much that it was nigh-impossible to separate facts from fiction, other than the fact that they had fought Princess Celestia at the Battle of Canterlot and lived. Their statue was a hooded and masked figure with a giant greatsword sheathed on their back.
Eclipse was a different story. The tall, regal Night Pegasus was easily the most recognizable of the bunch. The niece of Luna looked alive, even carved in stone, with a hoof raised up as if addressing an audience, and a compassionate gaze sweeping out over the park. Her flared bat wings gave her a commanding presence. Her eyes seemed to blaze, as if the sculptor had somehow captured a moment in time when she was stirring her citizens’ spirits, perhaps for a battle against the Equestrians or the Dragons.
Blue bowed her head before the statue of her ancestor. It was not uncommon for ponies to come to these statues seeking guidance or assistance. McCoy was asked for luck, Oblivion for strength, Eclipse for wisdom, Nocturne for courage, and Deep Dream for peace. Blue was in desperate need of wisdom right now. She knelt at the base of the statue. “Hello, Lady Eclipse,” she began. “It’s me, Blue Moon. I know I haven’t been here in a while, but… I really, really need some help right now. I made some big decisions, and now I’m just…” Blue struggled for words. “I’m not sure if they were the right ones to make anymore. I think I overreacted.”
“I don’t.”
Blue whirled around to see who had appeared behind her. “Chief! What are you doing here?”
Golden Shield leaned casually against the base of Oblivion. “I followed you from MacGryphon’s.”
Blue tilted her head in confusion. “Uh…okay. Why did you do that?”
His face was unreadable. “Blue, I know what really happened that night. I got called in to check out the disturbance. It was pretty obvious by the smell that the room had been, shall we say, “used”. Do you know why I didn’t say anything to Starflower?”
Blue cast her gaze downwards. She should have known Golden would figure it out. “Because you didn’t want to hurt Starflower. I probably hurt her pretty bad, didn’t I?”
Golden inclined his head. “Sort of. But that’s not the only reason. Princess Luna asked me not to tell Starry what they had done.”
Blue was taken aback. “What? Why?”
Golden gave her a pointed look. “Watching someone you think of as a surrogate daughter go completely berserk can sober someone up really quick. She put two and two together and decided that you two had a better chance of keeping your relationship alive if Starry didn’t remember what happened.”
Blue snorted in disgust. “Typical, manipulative Luna.” Her gaze fell to the ground with a sigh. “Alcohol doesn’t make you do things you don’t want to do. Just things you know you shouldn’t. She wanted to…do things with Luna.”
Golden just shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that. I don’t drink. You’ll have to talk to Starry about that. But I do know that Starflower looked really happy when she came back into the restaurant. And before you ask, yes; she waited until your sister left to tell me about your conversation. I wonder how she’ll feel if she knew you hate Luna because of her.”
Blue’s ears pinned. She closed her eyes and sighed. “I should talk to Luna, shouldn’t I?”
“I believe so, yes. Would you like me to walk you home? It’s been a while since we’ve talked.”
Blue nodded. “Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.”
Blue rose to her feet and followed after Golden, hanging a little behind him as they trotted down Elm Avenue.
They passed a lime-green Earth Pony mare sleeping on a bus stop bench. “Things aren’t good around here,” Golden said with a sigh. “Governor Bracken seems to be ignoring them. The homelessness rate just keeps going up, and the crime rate goes with it.”
“Doesn’t Moon Industries have a bunch of charities for that kind of thing?” Blue asked confusedly.
Golden nodded. “And thank Eclipse for your sister. Not only is she funding them, she started funding the ECPD when our budget was cut.”
Blue gasped. “The crime rate is rising, and Bracken cuts the ECPD? In what world does that make sense?”
Golden rolled his eyes. “Don’t even get me started. He’s been funneling crescents into that ‘Diplomacy Division’ of his. That idiot has been spending so much money trying to reestablish relations with Equestria that our economy has gone down the tanks. But since Princess Luna is on his side, everypony just goes along with it! The trade routes in the Badlands he’s setting up I get, but the dozens of diplomacy offices and trips for these ‘diplomats’ he’s been spending millions of crescents on? That’s just plain ridiculous. Hay, in a week some diplomats from Equestria are supposed to show up in Eclipse City for the Full Moon Feast. Everything they need was going to be paid for with taxpayer money. Luckily, Moon Dust talked Bracken into letting her sponsor the event, and pay for it herself. Bad news is, we’re so understaffed at ECPD that we can’t put together a decent security force for the diplomats.”
Blue noticed the sidelong smirk he was throwing at her. “Uh… Sir, are you offering me my job back?”
The chief put a hoof to his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… Well, we sure could use you. Dust would certainly love having her sister being the one to watch her back.”
Blue frowned. “But sir, you can’t do that! After what I did, I’m lucky to not be in prison. You can’t just hoof me my badge back!”
Golden looked at her, shocked. “Wait, nopony told you?”
“Told me what?”
Golden grinned. “Well, let’s just say your mother should have checked herself for scratches before jumping in a shark tank. Nopony at that reunion saw you hit your mother before she threw you out the window. That was assaulting an officer, and everything afterwards was reported as her resisting arrest.” He looked both ways, then whispered. “Personally, I think that they knew how much you hate your mother and were trying to score some brownie points with Dust by protecting you.” His voice rose from a whisper back to normal, and sounded suspiciously businesslike as he tried to hide a smirk. “Buuut the evidence and the witnesses say otherwise, so there was nothing I could do. Your mother is the one behind bars. She got five to ten for assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, and attempted murder. With that many witnesses, it was a pretty open-and-shut case.”
Blue’s jaw muscles simply ceased to function. She recalled Luna’s words in Tartarus; “Despite recent happenings, she still seems to harbor the delusion that she has any real level of power over you.” Her mouth hung open until Golden Shield closed it with a hoof. “But… But sir! You can’t do that!”
He quirked his head. “Do what? I arrested a dangerous mare. I had plenty of evidence. Having the word of a national hero also helped.”
So Luna had lied for her as well. They needed to have a very long talk indeed. “But I’m… unstable!”
Golden laughed. “Please, Blue. You and Bluetwo were on the force for years and you did just fine. If you’re in doubt about your capability, I have to order a psych evaluation before I give you your badge back anyway.”
Blue found it odd that she had to scramble for a reason for him to not give her another chance. “But shouldn’t I be punished or something for what I did?”
“According to the evidence, it was what your mother forced you to do in order to subdue her. But you’re right that the fight caused a lot of damage to your sister’s property, and even though she isn’t pressing charges, I have no choice but to discipline you. You are hereby suspended for one year after the initial infraction. Oh, look, it’s been a year already.”
Blue’s instincts told her something was up. An argument like this hadn’t been planned in a day, and there were only two ponies who might be able to predict all of her arguments like that. “Was it Dusty or Luna who helped you build this argument up?”
Golden grinned sheepishly. “Luna. She blames herself for what happened. She has Bracken pretty much head-over-hooves for her, so he didn’t even hesitate to help us set up this argument when she asked. Needless to say, I expect you at the station bright and early for your psych eval tomorrow.”
Looking up, Blue realized that they had been walking the whole time, and had arrived at her apartment building on Dream Street, several blocks away from the park. The big brownstone box had been her home since she was old enough to live alone. ‘I wonder if all of my old neighbors still live here,’ she pondered.
“I believe I’ll take my leave,” her mustachioed companion announced. “You’d best get some rest. I want you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at work in the morning.” With that he teleported away in a flash of yellow light.
Blue shook her head, mystified. She decided there was no point dwelling on it.
Everypony was asleep when she entered the building, so she had no way of checking in on her neighbors. Blue took the stairs to the top floor. She preferred not to use the elevator. The stairs were better exercise.
Blue fished her keys out of her saddlebag. She had forgotten that they were even in there.
Blue’s apartment was spacious. Just like her childhood room, it had a ton of bookshelves in it. But at that moment Blue realized just how drop-dead tired she was. She only had eyes for the bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
Golden Shield reappeared on a street corner, roughly a block away from Blue Moon’s apartment.
A dark blue Alicorn with black spots on her flanks sat on the street corner. “Did it go well?” Luna asked quietly.
Golden nodded. “Went about as well as I could have hoped. Blue seems to be feeling genuinely bad for running off like that.”
Luna winced. “She should not. I am the only one to blame.”
Golden rolled his eyes. “Princess, would you please stop the whole ‘Self-deprecating’ thing? It’s getting old. Anyway, Blue’s almost certain to come get her job back. She may not believe that she deserves it, but she can’t stand sitting back and doing nothing.”
Luna looked down the block. “Should I go talk to her?”
Golden vehemently shook his head. “No. She’s way too tired for a dream visit. Bluetwo would probably kick you out. Best to wait until morning.” He paused for a moment, then joked “Maybe bring her some flowers. Everypony loves those.”
Luna nodded. “We must get her to understand. The Triumvirate must not be ignored, and there are so painfully few ponies we can trust.”
Golden nodded grimly. “That’s for sure. I can’t talk too much longer. Starflower’s probably wondering where I went. Carpe Noctum Princess.”
Luna nodded farewell. “Carpe Noctum, Golden Shield. Fare thee well.”